


Howl at the Moon

by chilly_flame



Series: Halloween Shorts [2]
Category: The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Genre: F/F, Halloween, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2019-01-04 06:38:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12163509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chilly_flame/pseuds/chilly_flame
Summary: Pumpkin-carving wasn't part of the job description.





	Howl at the Moon

**Author's Note:**

> These were originally published in 2011, part of a Quick and Dirty Halloween fic-a-thon. I caught winter156's recent zombie fic and the lightbulb went off--for some reason I am pretty sure I never imported these shorts to ao3. So, that's fixed.

 

“Andrea, the twins need pumpkins to bring to school tomorrow. One of the teachers has asked that each child bring one.”  
   
“Of course, Miranda,” Andrea says, barely glancing at her notebook as she scribbles down the request. “I’ll pick some up and make sure they’re in the car with Roy by the time you head out for your events tonight.”  
   
Miranda tries not to smirk, and wonders what kind of reaction she’s going to get. Lately all she wants to do is challenge Andrea and see what happens. She is often surprised. It’s pleasant, since so much of her life is predictable and rote. When she asks Andrea to do something unreasonable, there is often an unexpected consequence.  
   
Miranda tries not to wonder what it is that makes this so interesting. Instead, she just acts, and waits for the results. Today is no exception.  
   
“No, Andrea. They need to be carved pumpkins. And not a simple jack-o-lantern, please. They’re my children and they need to have appropriately artistic presentations.” The unspoken, yet understood implication: _you will carve them, and present them to my children this evening_.  
   
Andrea’s mouth hardens into a firm line. Miranda waits for her to shout, “ _Then why don’t you carve them yourself, Miranda!_ ” But that doesn’t happen. After a moment, Andrea smiles brightly and says, “I understand. I’ll make it happen.” With that, she turns on her heel (four inches, eggplant, Zanotti) and struts away, her hips swaying in her dark pencil skirt. Her hair is up, and her fitted cream blouse is buttoned all the way to the top. She looks like a librarian. A sexy librarian.  
   
Miranda starts at the word _sexy_ as it passes through her brain, and moves on to something else before she can spend too much time thinking about it.  
   
\---  
   
That night, Miranda is tired. She had to make appearances at two separate events, and though it’s barely nine, she’s drained. Each event was supposed to take only 30 minutes of her time, but in both cases she was cornered by chatty, oblivious individuals who are too high in Miranda’s social circle for her to completely ignore. And while they weren’t particularly offensive, Miranda really wanted to spend a few minutes with the girls tonight. They’re supposed to be in bed by now; perhaps she’ll keep them up if they aren’t already asleep.  
   
Once inside, she hangs her coat in the closet, and hears voices. She smiles; the girls are still up, and it sounds like they’re in the kitchen. On her way there, she stops short, recognizing a third voice that doesn’t belong to Cara, who was supposed to stay late tonight.  
   
It’s Andrea, still in her skirt and blouse, although now the librarian look is even more dramatic. The blouse is unbuttoned a few buttons, and strands of hair fall around her face as if artfully arranged exactly to Miranda’s liking. She’s quietly standing over Caroline, who is doing something to the inside of a pumpkin. There are three pumpkins on the kitchen island, facing away from Miranda.  
   
Cassidy notices her first. “Mom! Hi! Andy’s here and we made pumpkins!”  
   
“I see that, darling. What has Andrea made for you?” Miranda asks.  
   
“Made for us? No way. Andy taught us how to do it ourselves,” Cassidy declares proudly. “She brought like, a hundred stencils and gave us these little toolkits with tiny knives—see?” She holds out a very small knife with a serrated edge. “It’s sharp but really easy to use, and now we can do whatever designs we want! Isn’t that cool? I always wanted to do one myself but I know you thought it was too dangerous with the knives and all that. But see? It’s totally safe,” Cassidy assures her. “Look!” She turns around her own pumpkin to reveal a beautiful haunted house design, complete with windows and porch and bats flying overhead. Miranda is shocked that her child, while talented in many things, has stayed seated at a kitchen counter long enough to complete a project as detail-oriented as this. Her daughter is brilliant, but her attention span could be considered by some to be woefully short.  
   
“I did a vampire, Mom,” Caroline interrupts. “I was just pulling off some of the funny pieces inside so they wouldn’t get in the way of the light.” She turns her pumpkin around, and there is an equally sophisticated vampire, with fangs and a cape’s collar and an evil expression. He looks a bit like Bela Lugosi.  
   
“My goodness,” Miranda exhales. “You’ve done an amazing job. Truly. I knew my girls were talented but I had no idea you were so artistic.”  
   
Cassidy rolls her eyes. “You don’t have to be an artist, Mom. That’s what’s so great about these. Anyone can do it if they just take the _time_. I can’t draw anything, but I can do this! It’s awesome. Everyone is going to love them.”  
   
“Indeed,” Miranda says, glancing up at Andrea, who is watching her with a small smile.  
   
Andrea says, “Your kids have a lot of patience, Miranda. These take concentration, and they were totally dedicated. I barely helped at all.” She sounds smug, although her expression is totally innocent.  
   
“Mm,” Miranda replies. “I see that.”  
   
“I did one too,” Andrea adds, turning her pumpkin around. It’s a wolf, baying at a half moon, with a few pine trees in the background. It’s elegant and perfectly done.  
   
“Andy drew her stencil freehand, Mom,” Caroline says. “She’s really good. She promised to draw me something next year if I want.”  
   
“Very nice,” Miranda says as she gazes at the remarkable carving, and the remarkable assistant who completed it. “I’m impressed.”  
   
And there is the smile, the real one, that Miranda realizes she’s been waiting for all day. Because as much as Miranda loves to challenge Andrea, she believes that Andrea loves just as much to surprise her in return. It is a give and take that is extremely satisfying.   
   
“Thank you, Miranda.” Andrea tilts her head and watches her for a moment longer than is comfortable, and Miranda feels a faint heat in her cheeks.  
   
“Well,” Miranda says, “I’ll help you clean up.”  
   
Andrea looks away. “Oh, we did that earlier. And there are seeds drying in the fridge, you can bake them tomorrow. Just add a little salt and olive oil.” She heads to the kitchen sink to wash her hands. “I’ve got to go, early day tomorrow, as usual,” she says.  
   
Miranda is a bit disappointed by this, but she schools her features into an impassive expression. “Be sure to take your pumpkin,” she tells her.  
   
As Andrea dries her hands on a dish towel, she laughs. “Oh, no, Miranda, I made that for you. You keep it.”  
   
Miranda looks at the work of art once more with a tilt of her head. “All right.”  
   
“Have a good sleep, kids,” Andrea says, hugging each girl tightly. “And good luck tomorrow!”  
   
“Thanks, Andy,” they both reply. “We will!”  
   
Andrea pauses just for a moment, only a few feet from Miranda. “Good night,” she says, and her eyes are dark and beautiful. Miranda is mesmerized.  
   
“Good night,” Miranda replies, clearing her throat, and the moment is gone.  
   
Andrea takes her coat from the back of a chair and strides out of the kitchen. Miranda listens as the front door opens and closes, and they are alone again.  
   
\---  
   
The next day, Miranda arrives early. Roy helps her in, and when he leaves, she gazes thoughtfully at her efforts. She nods with satisfaction.  
   
An hour passes, and she works in silence. That silence is interrupted by the quick step of Andrea, whose gait she recognizes easily. And because the office is almost entirely empty, she hears the gasp after she arrives, followed by the words, “Oh my gosh.”  
   
Miranda grins, and waits.  
   
Andrea steps into the open doorway and leans against the frame. “That’s a pretty impressive pumpkin, Miranda. Did the girls do it?” she asks cheekily.  
   
“I’ll have you know I did it myself. I thought it was a nice complement to the wolf.” Miranda’s hand-drawn design is a cat sitting under an intricately carved tree, a nearly full moon in view above. It took Miranda more than two hours last night, but she thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Once she saw the spare pumpkin in the corner (apparently bought in case of carving disaster), she knew she had to do it.  
   
“It’s amazing. I love it.” She glances back at the cat, which is sitting on Andrea’s desk, and then over to the wolf perched on Rita’s desk a few feet away. They’re both lit with spicy candles, and the air smells delicious.  
   
“Well, yes,” Miranda says, all of a sudden uncertain about what else to say. Because now it seems like she made the pumpkin for Andrea, which she did, but… What happens next?  
   
But there’s another set of footsteps in the hall coming closer; Andrea stands up straight as though she’s just been caught doing something naughty. Miranda blinks, and Andrea scurries back to her desk. Miranda hears Lucia ask where the pumpkins came from. Andrea replies that she ordered them herself, and she’s just glad Miranda let her keep them even though they’re kind of kitschy.  
   
 Miranda appreciates her thoughtfulness. She wants to say more, say something. But whatever it is will have to come later, because there is work to be done.  
   
“By the way,” Andrea says, startling Miranda into attention. She’s in the doorway again. “They do complement each other. The pumpkins, I mean. They’re perfect together.”  
   
Miranda just nods. “That they are.”

~end


End file.
